BattleCreek Church

Oklahoma | Church Size: 6,560

Lead Pastor: Alex Himaya

COMMENTS FROM CHURCH:

Our class is Advance Track, which is built around our mission to help all people Know God, Find Freedom, Discover their Purpose, and Make a Difference.
We have just reworked the class, taking it from four steps down to two.
Before attending the class, we ask everyone to complete a personality and spiritual gifts assessment. At the end of the class, we have Ministry Fair where the attendees can meet the Ministry Staff. This helps them find their place in the church

The following Monday, staff will contact those who signed up to serve and begin the onboarding process.

We also use Advance Track to connect people to a Community Group or help them start a Group with their friends.

Here are the links to the videos we show in Advance Track:

Step 1: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4-Dz-FKbZBY
Step 2: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s2J35RPAmCw

Everyone who completes Advance Track gets a tumbler.

NEW HERE GIFT

Cedarcrest Church

Georgia | Church Size: 1,337

Lead Pastor: Van Vandegriff

COMMENTS FROM CHURCH:

We don’t have a “New Here” class per se, we offer a three-step experience called Growth Track. This is a discipleship path that is required for anyone who wants to begin serving with us along with opportunities to become a member and get plugged into a Small Group. We are in the process of re-producing the Step 1 class that features our introductory video from Pastor Van. We do have a “New Here” page and video accessible via our website though: https://cedarcrestchurch.com/plan-your-visit/

NEW HERE GIFT

CenterPoint Church

New York | Church Size: 2,346

Lead Pastor: Brian McMillan

COMMENTS FROM CHURCH:

How we engage to our guests:
1) We have process for guests to get connect through 3 different “classes’ at CP. First we invite them to a newcomer lunch and they learn about the church in a basic sense and we focus on our guests making relational connections over content. Then we have Your Journey its a 4 week program designed to assimilate guests into the Church community than at the end of Journey we invite to membership class. I attached a document of our host guide for you, we use a lot of videos and presentaitons that are large files that I cant send via email, i can set up a dropbox link if you guys would like to access them let me know.

2) We invite guests to visit us at Connect Point (guest relations) at the end of service and provide them with a few things. We give them a t shirt, a coffee mug, and a gift bag with some quality chocolate a church brochure, and if they don’t have one a bible with a get started bookmark we have created.

Church at the Mill

South Carolina | Church Size: 3,906

Lead Pastor: DJ Horton

COMMENTS FROM CHURCH:

We capture first time visitors two ways:
1) Adults complete a "first time visitor card", either a hard copy or via a QR code. Our Senior Pastor is available to meet people after every service and invites first time visitors to "come meet me and my wife" at a central point in our concourse. If a first time visitor meets our Senior Pastor, he provides them a coffee mug with our logo on it.

2) Parents of Children - we capture family information if a child is checked in to our children's ministry.

Our follow up process:
1) Each week on the Tuesday following the Sunday a first time visitor visited, the pastoral staff is assigned first time visitor names to call. All first time visitors are called by a pastor prior to the end of the week

2) Each first time visitor family receives a hand written, personalized "thank you for visiting" card, which includes a gift card for a free espresso drink from our coffee shop located in the concourse that they can redeem on a future visit to the campus.

3) All families who checked in a child to kids ministry receive a hand written "thank you for visiting" card from a staff member of our Next Gen team.

4) Our pastors make a four week "follow up" call to each visiting family.

We have found that the phone calls from a pastor are highly impactful in encouraging the visitor to attend a second time. We are intentional about encouraging returning visitors to stop by and visit our senior pastor after a service, provide answers to how to visit small groups, etc.

In 2023 we have been fortunate to greet over 2,700 first time visitors. We also had over 550 people complete our New Member process.

Crosspoint City Church

Georgia | Church Size: 2,607

Lead Pastor: James Griffin

COMMENTS FROM CHURCH:

We currently offer a Next Steps class for people wanting to learn more about CPCC, however, we are about to completely redo this entire program. At the moment is runs for four weeks, has a printed program guide everyone follows along with, and corresponding teaching videos from our lead pastor that cover mission and values, governance and structure, and gifting and serving opportunities. We offer those four classes every month. Going forward, once it has all been finalized, we will be condensing this down to one session offered once a month and taught by our location pastors.

Eagle Brook Church

Minnesota | Church Size: 20,923

Lead Pastor: Jason Strand

COMMENTS FROM CHURCH:

As a church focused on inviting new people we don’t provide a gift to visitors but we do invite them to attend our “Closer Look” introduction that we hold between services on the weekend at our campuses. It’s 30 minutes with the Campus Pastor, with Q&A after a short introduction to our church. It’s offered a minimum of once per quarter (13 weeks) and the Campus Pastors can increase the frequency to as often as once per month.

I’ve attached the Closer Look resource we provide to new attenders. This short class is also a prerequisite for anyone pursuing membership at Eagle Brook Church. We work to help people identify their “Next Step” – following Jesus, baptism, serving, small group – are the primary connection points.

Two of the ways we gather contact information are through the Kids Check In process (which is for the safety and security of their children) or by giving new attenders a card for a free beverage in our café, which requires them to provide their name and contact information.

Eagle Christian Church

Idaho | Church Size: 4,577

Lead Pastor: Steven Crane

COMMENTS FROM CHURCH:

Our "New Here" Class can be found online at https://www.eaglechristianchurch.com/starting-point. They are referred to as Starting Points 1& 2. Sessions 3 & 4 are only offered in person. The booklet for Starting Points 1 & 2 is attached.

The "New Here" Gift is a Case for Christ book, and then the following Mon/Tues, a mug and free coffee card are delivered to their house.

NEW HERE GIFT

First Orlando

Florida | Church Size: 7,897

Lead Pastor: David Uth

COMMENTS FROM CHURCH:

Our Connect Experience meets on the first 3 Sundays of every month and is broken into 3 weeks. Guests are encouraged to attend all 3 but can start or stop on any week and do the weeks in any order. I’ve attached the content to this email. We don’t pass out gifts currently but do provide a meal every week. Below is how we talk about it to our guests.

Connect: Connect is an experience to learn about faith, meet friends, and explore your purpose! It generally takes place on the first 3 Sunday’s of the month at 11:30am, but you can jump in on any week!

Connect to Faith (Week 1) - Connect to Faith is the first step in the Connect process. Enjoy some delicious breakfast while you learn about the story of First Orlando, how it connects to your story, and how it all fits in to God’s story.
Connect to Friends (Week 2) - Connect to Friends is all about helping you find community. We know that our church is big but it starts to feel like home as soon as you have met some friendly faces. We will focus on why community is important as well as some next steps we can help you take to find community through First Orlando.
Connect to Purpose (Week 3) - Connect to Purpose is designed to help you discover more about your purpose and calling.

We will also connect you to opportunities available at First Orlando to live out your purpose and serve others by using your God-given gifts.
Week 1 is a full breakfast (bacon, eggs, sausage, biscuits and gravy)
Week 2 is Bagels from a local bagel company
Week 3 rotates from time to time. Usually something lighter like a local cookie place or a dessert type item.

This is the main next step we move people to. For our guests that come for a first visit, on their way in to the building, we welcome them, walk them to where they need to go and give them a info card to fill out and return to us after the service if they would like. With this, is a card for a free coffee at our café.

Grace Church

Ohio | Church Size: 2,592

Lead Pastor: Jonathan Schaeffer

COMMENTS FROM CHURCH:

The little card stapled to the cookie is a coupon for our coffee shop/cafe.

We have a membership class called Grace 101, which takes people through all the basics of Grace and our main beliefs and DNA, led by several of our staff... Here's a description of our upcoming session:

Enjoy a fast-moving class that explores the core values of the faith and vision of Grace Church taught by our pastors and ministry leaders (see below).

This class is a prerequisite for membership.
Jan. 3 Overview of Grace Church / Our Purpose, History & Doctrinal Statement: Jonathan Schaeffer - Senior Pastor
Jan. 10 Emotional Healing: Jamie Norton- Making Peace Affiliated Counselor/ Recovery Ministry
Jan. 17 Missions: Cultivating God’s Heart for the World: Joanna Thelander - Missions Director
Jan. 24 How to Share the Good News / Reaching Your Neighborhood/Office: Gregg Carrick - Pastor Emeritus
Jan. 31 Spiritual Gifts / Living into your Destiny: Jen Robinson - Director of Women’s Ministry
Feb. 7 How to Invest Wisely - How to Make Your Life Count for Eternity / Sanctification - Growing In Christ: Neil Clark - Campus Pastor
Feb. 14 Committing to Grace / Membership Covenant/Survey: Neil Clark - Campus Pastor

We also do something called "Taste of Grace" about once a quarter, which is in between services and is a "meet and greet" for new people. There are some refreshments and several staff come by to meet those who come, and we do just a little brief and Q&A about Grace for any newcomer questions.

NEW HERE GIFT

Hope Community Church

North Carolina | Church Size: 5,285

Lead Pastor: Jason Gore

COMMENTS FROM CHURCH:

During services, guests are invited to text 'NEW' to a short code or visit our next steps area.
Then either digitally or assisted in person we capture some basic info and select any areas for deeper interest, example: Groups, Serving, etc.
From there the requests are routed to the proper staff ministry leader for follow-up.
Those who visit Next Steps get a gift card for a local smoothie shop (used to be chik-fil-a sandwich card).
Every guest receives an email from their campus pastor with contact info and an invitation to visit our Discover (membership) class.

Lakeside Church

Florida | Church Size: 2,117

Lead Pastor: Jason Hitte Sr.

COMMENTS FROM CHURCH:

We use the Growth Track material that can be found on the Highlands Resource website. We have modified it to fit into a 2 week class. Also, we offer a small box to first time guests that includes a couple of snacks, a couple of cheap merch items (like sunglasses and a pen), and a couple of cards that point them toward next steps. I want to say that our Creative team used a template for the boxes from something they got from Highlands as well.

Lifepoint Church

Ohio | Church Size: 4,339

Lead Pastor: Dean Fulks

COMMENTS FROM CHURCH:

Our "New Here" Class is called Starting Point. It's actually the first part of a 4 part pathway we call "LAUNCH". Here's a page that will explain things via a video... https://www.lifepointohio.com/launch (there is also a handy diagram on the page)

The Starting Point covers three statements we make at Lifepoint:
Draw Life from God and Point others to Him (so we talk about our mission focus, our serving focuses, our core values, etc)
A Church Where No One Walks Alone (so we talk about Lifegroups and Authentic Community)
One Church, Many Locations (so we talk about our desire to be a sending/multiplying church and our multi-campus strategy)

All in all, Starting Point gives some "teaser" info that will be further clarified as they enter into the Launch Pathway and complete the classes (Core, Lifeteam Orientation, Discovering Life Membership Class).

As for gifts, if people fill out a guest card, we give an option of one of 5 charitable partnerships that we have at Lifepoint. We make an additional $5 donation to that partnership, based on their response. We do two things to ensure that they are pretty equal in distribution. First, we have options from each region aligning with our campus locations. Secondly, we switch out the partnerships quarterly (or so). So really, they seem to get equal selection.

With that being said, typically people’s hearts, reach out more to homelessness, and or children, so those type of partnerships seem to connect best with our people

Maryland Community Church

Indiana | Church Size: 2,087

Lead Pastor: Scot Longyear

NEW HERE GIFT

Mobberly Baptist Church

Texas | Church Size: 1,986

Lead Pastor: Andrew Hébert

COMMENTS FROM CHURCH:

No NEW HERE class but has Discovery Class (Attendees are led thru a power point presentation to complete the answers in the book. The teacher, usually one of our minsters, leads discussion and answers questions.

The class is about 2 hours long.

At the end of the class, attendees who choose to become members of the church complete a membership decision card with the help of a trained decision prayer partner. That form is also attached.

This process helps determine if the person has truly surrendered their life to Christ and if they have received Biblical baptism. The questions on the card help determine a need for connection to a small group and the need for discipleship. Other issues that might affect membership status can come up while completing the membership card. In those cases, further counseling may need to happen between the applicant and a church staff member.)

Peace Church

Michigan | Church Size: 1,910

Lead Pastor: Ryan Kimmel

COMMENTS FROM CHURCH:

Here is what we do at Peace. Our welcome gift is a branded cold cup, a brochure about our church, a pen, and mints. We do the gift in exchange for the Newcomer card.

For the “New here class”, when I send people a welcome email, I include the registration link to Meet the Pastors and invite them to that, so we could easily say that is our “intro” class. The questions we ask:

What is something you love about Peace Church?
What is coming up at Peace Church that you are excited about?
What is your best advice for getting connected at Peace Church?

Discover Peace Church: A Special Invitation for Newcomers

Welcome to Peace Church! We're delighted that you've chosen to explore our community. As a church, we believe in fostering deep connections, not just during our services but beyond. We're more than just a congregation; we're a family united by faith, and we're eager for you to become a part of our journey.

Join us for a special 'Meet the Pastors' luncheon, an intimate gathering designed especially for newcomers like you. Dive into the heart of Peace Church as you:

Engage in enriching conversations with our pastoral team.
Hear inspiring stories of how God has been moving within our community.
Learn about our mission, vision, and the driving force behind our sermons.
Delve into a comprehensive presentation where our pastors discuss each ministry in detail, including Friends @ Peace, Bold Boys/Brave Girls, Young Adults, Community Groups, Student Ministry, and more. Understand the essence, goals, and opportunities each ministry offers.

Share your thoughts and ask any questions during a Q&A session.
Reserve Your Seat: To ensure you don't miss out on this unique opportunity, please register at peacechurch.cc/events and select the 'Meet the Pastors' event.

We're excited to get to know you better and to share the incredible journey God has planned for us. If you have any queries or need further information, please feel free to contact us. Your spiritual journey and growth are important to us, and we're here to support you every step of the way.

-no pdfs, slides or pictures are used at this event.

Radiant Church

Florida | Church Size: 5,135

Lead Pastor: Aaron Burke

COMMENTS FROM CHURCH:

For first time guests we give out a box that has a t-shirt and a "new here" brochure. This brochure outlines all of our ongoing ministries. Unfortunately, I don't have a picture of the shirt or brochure, however, you can learn more about our "Next Steps" program and process here: https://weareradiant.com/nextsteps/

Our "Radiant 101" class is all online and "Open House" is in person. Each "First Time Guest" can register for these programs online.

We also have an online program called "Fresh Start." You can learn more here: https://weareradiant.com/freshstart/

Fresh Start is a video based program for anyone who has recently made the decision to follow Christ or those who are ready to go deeper.

Rolling Hills Community Church

Tennessee | Church Size: 2,613

Lead Pastor: Jeff Simmons

COMMENTS FROM CHURCH:

We encourage all newcomers to attend our Explore Rolling Hills Class as soon as possible. We've found that it's easier to follow up and get to know them on a deeper level. In our class, we cover the history of our church, mission statement, vision, values, church structure and governance, and ways to connect through serving and groups. We also go on a tour of our campus - many of our talking points are covered along the way. For our gift, we have a Rolling Hills branded gift bag, and we include a book written by our Senior Pastor, a very inexpensive plastic tumbler cup/straw with our logo, and we have a card inviting them to our Explore Class.

Scottsdale Bible Church

Arizona | Church Size: 6,415

Lead Pastor: Jamie Rasmussen

COMMENTS FROM CHURCH:

We are currently giving a gift card to our on-campus café (at 3 of our 4 campuses) along with a book written by our senior pastor and a booklet about our church and its ministries. Our Connecting Point class is for people new to the church or who are looking for ways to get more connected here. It gives an overview of our vision/mission/values and introduces them to first steps for connection at SBC, including Rooted, Alpha, men’s/women’s ministry, etc.

The Church of Eleven22

Florida | Church Size: 14,473

Lead Pastor: Joby Martin

COMMENTS FROM CHURCH:

We host a short meet & greet after services each week where guests can meet campus staff and learn who we are and how they can get connected. We call this simply “Discover Eleven22.”

The Journey

Delaware | Church Size: 2,199

Lead Pastor: Mark Johnston

COMMENTS FROM CHURCH:

We don't currently offer a "New Here" class, but we do have something that we call Plugged In. This is a 2 step process that helps you first hear about who we are as a church (find your place) and then get involved with serving on our J-Team (find your part). You can find videos for each of these steps HERE. We also offer something called, "Plan Your Visit." This allows for a guest to tell us that they will be gathering with us in advance. When they arrive, they meet with a J-Teamer at our "New Here" table and get a quick tour of our space and are routed to Plugged In Step 1 to hear about the vision of our church.

We are hoping to change this in the near future, but our "New Here" gift right now is a white campfire mug with our logo on it. We order it off of 4imprint.com (I've attached a proof to this email). When a first time guest fills out a Connect Card and takes it out to Journey Central, we give them this mug. For anyone who indicates that they put their faith in Jesus on a Connect Card, we give them a New Believer's Bible (NLT, New Testament).

Peavine Baptist Church

Georgia | Church Size: 2,008

Lead Pastor: Joel Southerland

Grace Church

Virginia | Church Size: 1,409

Lead Pastor: Derek Grier

COMMENTS FROM CHURCH:
Starting Point:

1. Learning where each person is at with Grace.
   1. How long have they been coming?
   2. What have they experienced?
   3. What are they hoping to get from church?
2. Learning where they are at in their faith.
   1. Learn their Jesus story
   2. Share the gospel (confirm saving faith)
3. Helping them take a next step and get connected here.
   1. We focus in on baptism, serving and groups.
   2. And are open to helping them connect to any next step for them spiritually.
   3. Invite to Start Serving the following Sunday if interested in serving.
4. Remind/Teach them about who we are.
   1. Our Mission and Vision

 And regarding gifts for our guests:

• We have done individually packaged cupcakes from a local small batch bakery
• We have used a small business that makes kettle corn. 
• We designed our own “been there” local coffee mug. 
• And recently purchased small 8 piece, chocolates boxes from a local company as well. 

NEW HERE GIFT

Northridge Church

New York | Church Size: 1,837

Lead Pastor: Drew Karschner

COMMENTS FROM CHURCH:

We do something call "Northridge in 5" about every other week. 
It takes place immediately following our services in a room adjacent to our auditoriums.
We have light refreshments there & take them through a brief 5-minute History/Mission/Process/Approach deal on Northridge.  

After sharing 5 minutes about us we ask them to share a little about them on a card - What's your story? How did you come? 

We've been surprised by how many people will walk out of an auditorium & into a room for a 5-minute connect on their 1st or 2nd week at the church.

If one looks at data from the past 12 weeks:

• 50% of those who attended "NR in 5" came on their 1st Sunday at Northridge
• 13% of those who attended came on their 2nd Sunday at Northridge
• 7% of those who attended came on their 3rd Sunday at Northridge

At our Connect tables, we give away:

• T-shirts
• Mugs
• $5 coffee cards

Patano Church

Arizona | Church Size:

Lead Pastor: Trevor DeVage

COMMENTS FROM CHURCH:
We give every person that comes to Starting Point and fills out a connect card the following items:

• Pantano pen
  
• Next steps cards to include links to sign up. The "new here" class is Discover Pantano and it is an in person class at this time. 
  
• Free breakfast coupon for our cafe
  

NEW HERE GIFT

Mercy Hill Church

North Carolina | Church Size:

Lead Pastor: Andrew Hopper

Sun Valley Community Church

Arizona | Church Size: 7,171

Lead Pastor: Chad Moore

COMMENTS FROM CHURCH:

The image of the bottle there is more of a large christmas/easter service where it may be mentioned as a "gift" for those who are new - however we have even decided against that this year.

All FTG receive a red drawstring bag, filled with a deck of 4 Next Steps cards with the key ministry things to know (included in the folder I shared). Also, it has the bottle and other trees and goodies that the campus would like to add as their own "flavor".

I have attached the New Here Event Communication Plan as well. That is an SOP that we run centrally for our campus staff to ensure everyone who is new is invited by their campus pastors to an event within the first few months - after that window (3 months) we don't actively reach out to attend this event as they may have taken other steps to become known.

Our Next Steps ministries run the New Here events once every other month.

NEW HERE GIFT

Northview Church

Indiana | Church Size: 8,916

Lead Pastor: C.J. Johnson

COMMENTS FROM CHURCH:

Our previous “starting point” class was relatively “us” focused and based around the idea of a pipeline. So we shared a lot about us, and then basically had a fairly directed path to being discipled following our class.

The new class is really more focused on the individual. Our discipleship strategy revolves around “The Big 3” 1. Worship regularly 2. Engage relationally 3. Live generously.

So this new class will have Northview Mission, vision, and values, but will focus more on helping the individual find a “next” to help them grow. So instead of a pipeline approach, we like to think of it more like a platform for helping us relationally connect each person to their own personal growth. 

Bethlehem Church

Georgia | Church Size: 5,126

Lead Pastor: Jason Britt

COMMENTS FROM CHURCH:

 Here are a few things that we do at Bethlehem Church. I have also attached a few pictures. If you need anything else, please let me know. Also, if you would like, you can remove Ebony from your email list as she is no longer on staff. 

"New Here" Class - We point new people to a gathering called Discover Bethlehem. Discover Bethlehem meets once a month, and at this gathering, we share the heart of the church. People get to meet several staff members and hear about all the different ministries. We take them on a tour of the church, and they hear from staff members and volunteers about where they serve and why they love the church. At the end of this gathering, we inform them that their next step is membership class which is offered once a quarter, join a small group, and we allow them to explore places to serve.  

"New Here" gift - We have a small bag that we give to first-time guests and families. These are given to guests who come to the "Connect Area" in the lobby.  

We put the following in a custom bag:

• Mug with the star logo of our church
• A sample BBQ seasoning pack from the famous local Lanes BBQ 
• Mints
• An invite card to sign up to join us at Discover Bethlehem.

NEW HERE GIFT